Astronomers observe the night sky for the Perseid meteor shower at an
observatory near the village of Avren east of the Bulgarian capital
Sofia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. The annual meteor shower is promising
to put on a dazzling sky show. Astronomers say up to 100 meteors per
hour are expected to streak across the sky during the shower’s peak.

Each year, as Earth moves through a trail of dust from the comet Swift-Tuttle’s 133-year orbit, the night sky lights up in a hail of celestial fire known as the Perseid meteor shower – or, at least, people hope it will.

Along with the Leonids in November, the Perseids are one of two major meteor showers on the annual calendar, “one of the two likely to come through,” said Tim Thompson, president of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and a retired Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomer.

Emanating from the constellation Perseus, the shower is caused when particles of the comet’s dust disintegrate in flashes of light as they hit the earth’s atmosphere.

Optimal viewing times will be during the darkest hours before dawn tonight and into Friday morning, when NASA estimates meteors could average one per minute.

With a new moon offering minimal distraction, observers are hoping this year will be a good one, weather permitting.

While the International Meteor Organization calls the Perseids “one of the most exciting and dynamic” showers, prized for its fast-moving meteors, others say they aren’t a showboat but a crowd-pleaser for accessibility and timing.

“As far as meteor showers go,” says Jane Houston Jones, education and outreach coordinator for JPL and an avid amateur astronomer, “this one isn’t the biggest or the best, but it is the most accessible because it’s in the summer when weather is nicer … so people can take that time and go somewhere away from the lights.”

Thompson says there is no real way to tell if this year will be especially fruitful: “Expectations for meteor showers are a crapshoot. No one really knows whether it will be better or worse or good or bad – you just have to go and look and find out.”

Many plan to flee the city lights and head toward darker corners of Southern California’s mountains or deserts.

“In order to see them you need dark skies because the city’s light pollution has nearly killed everything – you have to go farther and farther,” said Bob Alborzian, a 42-year member of the Sidewalk Astronomers Society and an astrophysicist by training.

Alborzian suggests hopeful spectators drive out toward Palmdale and find an open field, or up the Templin Highway, about 10 miles north of Magic Mountain, where they can pull off, turn left or right, “and drive as far and as deep as possible.” If it’s dark enough, he says, they may see a few meteors per hour.

“All you need is a sleeping bag: crawl into it with a pillow under your head and your eyes to the skies,” said Alborzian, stressing that the meteors will be coming from all directions and peak between about 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Friday.

If you can’t make it out of the city, Jones suggests finding an urban space like a park where there are fewer lights. “Just get yourself comfortable and maybe turn off the outside lights and hopefully you’ll be able to see some of the brighter ones.”

Among stargazers, says Jones, Perseid is a big event, but doesn’t require any special equipment or expertise. “People like me will just be sitting in a lawn chair, using our eyes to get a nice, big view of the sky.”

Look to the northeast, from where the meteors will appear to generate, advises Jones. “Not straight up, (but) kind of half-way up the sky at around midnight.” She adds, however, that the shooting stars will be visible all over the sky: “nice long ones will streak across the sky and be visible for people looking in any direction.”

This year, viewers will also be treated to an opening act: around sunset tonight, before the meteor shower, Jones says even people in the most light-polluted areas will be able to see the moon and three planets together in the Western sky.

“You don’t need a telescope. Mars, Saturn and Venus will be making a little triangle, about as big as if you hold your fist out over your head. It’s really beautiful and everyone can see it.”

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